After a very sad week with our local rink closing on Monday night, we gathered together about 20 skaters (and 4 coaches) and headed to the nearest rink (Augusta, GA - a little over an hour away) to try to "keep it going" The rink is smaller but wow the rink owner was SUPER excited to see us and was so welcoming to us and our coaches! The surface was a bit tough going at first but things went much better after the mid-session zam.

I had an AWESOME skate, I think mostly thanks to my dh who is my newest favorite skate sharpener after I took a leap of faith and ordered the 3/8 inch Profiler sharpener - I don't know exactly what ROH the last sharpener used but it was definitely not deep enough . . . the 3/8, however, turned out to be absolutely perfect for me - spin entries were so secure and salchows were amazing - I suddenly was able to get a good secure edge for the takeoff. (so that's what it's supposed to feel like? huh!).

DS, though, had the coup of the day - because his coach let him *try* the axel towards the end of his lesson and darned if he didn't actually land a baby one . . . the look on his face was pretty priceless.

I was so proud of our kids, parents and coaches for plugging along and making the best of a bad situation .. . we're all keeping our fingers crossed that it's a temporary setback, but it's nice to be welcomed elsewhere in the meantime!

I'm so glad to hear it went so well at the other rink. It must be a difficult situation, not really knowing what's happening with your regular rink, but it's great that have somewhere in the meantime

Oh, and well done to your DS on the "baby" axel!

Clare

Oh yeah . .. forgot this amusing little tidbit . ..

one of our coaches went down to Charleston SC for practice on Saturday . . . and everyone was so nice and welcoming and super-sympathetic about her coming all the way from "Iceland" to find a new place to skate . .. at some point she realized that they meant Iceland "the country" . . . LOLOLOL!!! (now that WOULD be dedication!!).

Heh, "Iceland" is the name of the first ice skating rink I ever saw at the tender age of 27. It's been long gone -first turned into a retail store, and who knows what by now.

Good luck on your quest for ice. I hate to drive, but I will have to find time and motivation to get to Columbus (OH) for a session or two myself since our rink is closed for the season.

I'm sure that my skills are going away (happens each year) and my waistline is growing. I'm up a pound for each week I've been off the ice. This HAS to stop!

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Bill Schneider